W.R. Early 1980s Freight Photos - South Wales Severn Tunnel Junction to Pantyffynnon.

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

Why hasn't anyone modelled Ebbw Junction diesel depot? Two Bachmann sheds, as the model is a hybrid of both Ebbw Junctions sheds, and the job is done.

 

 

It would make an interesting model - quite surprised at how sprawly it is, and so very different from the usual modelling cliche depot layouts where the track zig zags bacwards and forwards across the board...

 

Eliminate the yards and just model the nearest main lines, and the shed.  Would be a bit different.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters

[The Johnster]

Now a little further west towards the centre of Cardiff, and another yard for which I need the confirmation of name.

 

scan0165.jpg

Strangely another Gateshead ETH fitted 47/4 is in Cardiff on the same day as 47405 seen earlier.

47416 heads eastwards on the Up Main past Cardiff Long Dyke (if I have it correct) 17/9/81.

I am wondering which bridge I might have been standing on, Splott Road perhaps?

 

cheers

 

 

I think you are standing on the end pier of the railway bridge which formerly carried the Rhymney Railway across the SWML at this point.  Splott Road bridge is about half a mile to the east, and Windsor Road bridge is a few yards to the east behind you (oh no it isn't) ( oh yes it is) (work with me, chaps. it's still panto season).  To the right of the picture is the former Newtown Goods Depot, then an exclusively road based NCL concern and no longer rail served, and the rusty road to the right of the up main is the 'Electric Loop', which ran from the western end of Newtown Depot beyond the black footbridge you can see in the background to the cattle dock just west of Splott Road Bridge, nearly a mile.  There was an end loading dock at that end of Newtown Goods Yard by which the dreadful 'Invacar' blue fibreglass electric invalid vehicles, made in Cardiff to the city's eternal shame, were loaded on to lowfits for distribution.  Beyond the footbridge, the grey relay box building marks the end of the Long Dyke Yard reception roads, and the piers of the bridge carrying the Bute Road branch can just be made out.

 

The large stone warehouse, still proclaiming it's ownership by the London and North Western Railway, was derelict in those days but has been resuscitated as luxury yuppie flats.  The LNW, which more or less owned the Rhymney after that line went bankrupt building Caerphilly Tunnel, maintained a loco at East Dock shed, which rejoiced in the name of 'Earl of Dumfries', one of Lord Bute's titles.

 

The yard you need the name of is Long Dyke, a very old name mostly forgotten by everyone not on the railway and now just mostly forgotten, a memory of the time when the Long Dyke, a sea wall, protected this low lying area from high tidal flooding before it was drained for the construction of docks and steelworks.  

 

Much of this scene is vanished but some still exists.  The black footbridge (not The Black Bridge which is a footbridge still extant about 50 yards east of Windsor Road Bridge, and a very well known local landmark) is still there, now rebuilt in concrete with groovy spiral ramps for cyclists and wheelchair users. 

 

A view from here these days would, apart from being impossible as the Rhymney formation and Newtown Goods Depot have been replaced by housing, prominently feature the large concrete flyover bridge carrying the dual carriageway A4234 'Central Link' road, part of Cardiff's incomplete southern bypass system, across the entire scene.  Modern office buildings stand on the land once occupied by Long Dyke Yard.  

 

The area is near the 'magic roundabout' which carries a reputation for working girls, who use the various spaces behind these office buildings to ply their ancient and honourable trade under cover of darkness (or so I am told/it is alleged/it says here).  The new offices and flats at the town end of Tyndall Street have gentrified that area considerably, but down this end it was pretty rough in those days and is worse now; the girls, poor cows, do it for drugs or their boyfriends' drugs and this is very definitely not the glamorous end of this trade; some are pitifully young.  Up the other end in the old days at least they had pubs to shelter from the rain in and which sort of looked after them and their welfare; down this end is a bit of a wasteland!

 

Windsor and Splott Road bridges had (and, having been rebuilt in connection with the electrification, still have) high parapets and it is unlikely that you took your photo from Windsor Road Bridge unless you had a step ladder with you!

Edited January 16, 2018 by The Johnster

[Fat Controller]

Now a little further west towards the centre of Cardiff, and another yard for which I need the confirmation of name.

 

scan0165.jpg

Strangely another Gateshead ETH fitted 47/4 is in Cardiff on the same day as 47405 seen earlier.

47416 heads eastwards on the Up Main past Cardiff Long Dyke (if I have it correct) 17/9/81.

I am wondering which bridge I might have been standing on, Splott Road perhaps?

 

cheers

The remains of Newtown Yard.

I believe the large, solid, building to the left background may be the former L&NWR goods shed, which is now a rather bijou hotel. No idea of the bridge, I'm afraid.

[Fat Controller]

I think you are standing on the end pier of the railway bridge which formerly carried the Rhymney Railway across the SWML at this point.  Splott Road bridge is about half a mile to the east, and Windsor Road bridge is a few yards to the east behind you (oh no it isn't) ( oh yes it is) (work with me, chaps. it's still panto season).  To the right of the picture is the former Newtown Goods Depot, then an exclusively road based NCL concern and no longer rail served, and the rusty road to the right of the up main is the 'Electric Loop', which ran from the western end of Newtown Depot beyond the black footbridge you can see in the background to the cattle dock just west of Splott Road Bridge, nearly a mile.  There was an end loading dock at that end of Newtown Goods Yard by which the dreadful 'Invacar' blue fibreglass electric invalid vehicles, made in Cardiff to the city's eternal shame, were loaded on to lowfits for distribution.  Beyond the footbridge, the grey relay box building marks the end of the Long Dyke Yard reception roads, and the piers of the bridge carrying the Bute Road branch can just be made out.

 

The large stone warehouse, still proclaiming it's ownership by the London and North Western Railway, was derelict in those days but has been resuscitated as luxury yuppie flats.  The LNW, which more or less owned the Rhymney after that line went bankrupt building Caerphilly Tunnel, maintained a loco at East Dock shed, which rejoiced in the name of 'Earl of Dumfries', one of Lord Bute's titles.

 

The yard you need the name of is Long Dyke, a very old name mostly forgotten by everyone not on the railway and now just mostly forgotten, a memory of the time when the Long Dyke, a sea wall, protected this low lying area from high tidal flooding before it was drained for the construction of docks and steelworks.  

 

Much of this scene is vanished but some still exists.  The black footbridge (not The Black Bridge which is a footbridge still extant about 50 yards east of Windsor Road Bridge, and a very well known local landmark) is still there, now rebuilt in concrete with groovy spiral ramps for cyclists and wheelchair users. 

 

A view from here these days would, apart from being impossible as the Rhymney formation and Newtown Goods Depot have been replaced by housing, prominently feature the large concrete flyover bridge carrying the dual carriageway A4234 'Central Link' road, part of Cardiff's incomplete southern bypass system, across the entire scene.  Modern office buildings stand on the land once occupied by Long Dyke Yard.  

 

The area is near the 'magic roundabout' which carries a reputation for working girls, who use the various spaces behind these office buildings to ply their ancient and honourable trade under cover of darkness (or so I am told/it is alleged/it says here).  The new offices and flats at the town end of Tyndall Street have gentrified that area considerably, but down this end it was pretty rough in those days and is worse now; the girls, poor cows, do it for drugs or their boyfriends' drugs and this is very definitely not the glamorous end of this trade; some are pitifully young.  Up the other end in the old days at least they had pubs to shelter from the rain in and which sort of looked after them and their welfare; down this end is a bit of a wasteland!

 

Windsor and Splott Road bridges had (and, having been rebuilt in connection with the electrification, still have) high parapets and it is unlikely that you took your photo from Windsor Road Bridge unless you had a step ladder with you!

You put it so much better than I did.. Is the Magic Roundabout the one where you go towards the steelworks on the right, or towards Cardiff Prison if you go straight on when coming from the docks?

[Rivercider]

So thanks to The Johnster for confirming the yard in post 22 is Long Dyke, and for the lovely descriptive account of that area of Cardiff.

 

Long Dyke was the location of one of the TOPS Offices in South Wales, there were about seventeen yard TOPS Offices and 2 in TMDs at implementation.

By 1977 a number of offices had closed, eventually only Newport TOPS remained before relocating to the CSDC at Doncaster in the EWS era.

 

I think this was the complete list of offices

76090 Severn Tunnel Junction 

76110 Llanwern

76120 East Usk

76470 Newport A D Junction

76650 Ebbw Vale Waunllwyd*

77090 Cardiff Tidal

77210 Cardiff Long Dyke

78100 Aberdare

78400 Radyr Yard

78520 Cardiff Canton TMD*

78610 Llantrisant

78810 Barry 

79040 Llanelli

79060 Pantyffynnon

79230 Swansea Assembly SIdings

79320 Landore TMD*

79600 Briton Ferry

79742 Port Talbot BSC

79780 Margam Yard

* office closed by Oct 1977 

 

cheers

[The Stationmaster]

We need to sort some of these Cardiff locations I think.

 

Going back to post219 both trains are crossing over Pengam Jcn, The green patch over behind the Class 47 was Roath Sidings (not to be confused with Roath Jon Sidings which were off the TVR mainline south of Llandaff station) and over to the right, appearing on Post 220 as well, is Roath Coal Yard.

 

Moving on to Post 222 we have, as has already been noted, the remnants of Newtown Goods depot on the right on the Up side.  The sidings in the left background were Newtown Yard with Tyndall Field Goods at the further side of them.  Long Dyke Jcn and yard was behind the photographer at the other side of the bridge from which the photo was taken and lay alongside the branch round to Tyndall Street Crossing (originally officially the Bute Dock Branch).

 

The Electric Loop was on the Down side and in later years officially ran from Long Dyke Jcn to roughly opposite the west end of Newtown Yard where it joined the Down Relief and is labelled as a reception line in Tony Cooke's volumes. - it thus features in the Newtown picture in Post 222 but on the further, south, side of the running lines.  However at some time the name also seems to have applied colloquially to part of the through siding immediately east of Long Dyke Jcn (which was created as late as 1966 from a rationalisation of the double track through lines between Pengam Sidings and Long Dyke Jcn).

 

The line on the Up side alongside Newtown Goods was an Up & Down Goods Avoiding Line and its mileages do not correspond with those quoted at one time in the WTT for the Electric Loop (169m 49ch, Long Dyke Yard 169m 50ch) whereas those on the Down side correspond exactly with those mileages 

[HGT1972]

The background of #222 was Tyndall Field Yard - it had closed 1/81 and, as surmised, all those wagons making the place look busy were actually condemned. I took a fair few photos of the wagons there at that time (a wide mix including the elusive Coil F conversions), all of them destined for Woodham Brothers down at Barry. Just a month after your photo the wagons began to leave for Barry with the last of the sidings closing 1/82. By 2/83 I saw a Plasser & Theurer self-propelled crane working there lifting the rails - shame as it was really busy yard until the end of vacuum-fitted wagonload services when the surviving air-braked traffic left for the Isis-Link depot at Canton. The only survivor today is the former weighbridge at the west end, which is still used as the gatehouse for the modern units down that side. If anyone finds themselves down that way it's worth a look at the end of Ellen Street.

 

Hywel

[hmrspaul]

The background of #222 was Tyndall Field Yard - it had closed 1/81 and, as surmised, all those wagons making the place look busy were actually condemned. I took a fair few photos of the wagons there at that time (a wide mix including the elusive Coil F conversions), all of them destined for Woodham Brothers down at Barry. Just a month after your photo the wagons began to leave for Barry with the last of the sidings closing 1/82. By 2/83 I saw a Plasser & Theurer self-propelled crane working there lifting the rails - shame as it was really busy yard until the end of vacuum-fitted wagonload services when the surviving air-braked traffic left for the Isis-Link depot at Canton. The only survivor today is the former weighbridge at the west end, which is still used as the gatehouse for the modern units down that side. If anyone finds themselves down that way it's worth a look at the end of Ellen Street.

 

Hywel

Hywel

 

I think this coil F was in Tyndall F Y? http://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/brcoilplate/e3fac0bffI  only ever found this yard once - Cardiff was very complex!

 

Paul

[HGT1972]

Yes Paul, that's at Tyndall Field - I found 15 of the 27 there at that time and they're the ones that went to Woodhams where you later found the removed cradles. I made a couple for Morfa Bank Sidings and clambering over those condemned wagons was the catalyst for those models 30 years later! Those same Coil F seemed to have had some work into or out of here carrying tinplate coils over the years. In fact another of the tinplate coil designs, the unique hooded Bogie Coil S converted from a BBE (although it seems to have always carried the 'Coil RR' designation) was actually allocated to this yard in 1975. For what reason is still a mystery.

 

A much missed yard!

 

Hywel

[br2975]

Tyndall Fields yard (foreground) & Cardiff (Newtown) Goods (background) circa 1965/1966

 

,A mid-1960s photo by the renowned South Walian photographer Bob Masterman, who at the time worked at Cardiff (Newtown) Goods, seen on the far (north or up) side of the South Wales Main Line, accessed from Davis Street, which is closer to Adamsdown, than Newtown, which was south of the SWML (the area to the left).

.

When taking this Bob was stood atop the former Rhymney Railway embankment, close to the site of the one time Tyndall Street High Level Junction 'box. Behind him the bridge that carried the former RR line to Crockherbtown aka Cardiff Queen St. (formerly the RR Cardiff, Parade station) was being demolished.

.

In front of us we have Tyndall Fields Yard, the nearer, 'dead end' roads were referred to as 'Spike Sidings' - no, I don't know why.

.

The black bridge in the distance is a footbridge leading from Pellet Street to the Newtown area. The bridge has recently been replaced.

.

Once past Pellet St footbridge, the SWML climbs to reach Cardiff General (then, now Central).

.

The tall building in the centre is the former Wales Gas offices (Snelling House ?) in Customhouse Street, and still stands, but as a hotel.

.

The Cardiff General/Central - Cardiff Queen St. line passes this side of the Wales Gas building.

.

Brian R

.

Edited January 19, 2018 by br2975

[br2975]

Long Dyke Yard circa 1972.

.

The overbridge in the background carries Windsor Road across the South Wales main line.

.

"The Magic Roundabout" referred to by The Johnster is nowadays located just off camera to the right, at the junction of Tyndall St. / East Tyndall St. / East Moors Rd. and Windsor Road......and I can confirm it is an habitual haunt of what are nowadays referred to as 'street workers' (even the oldest profession has had p.c. forced upon it....whereas the ladies call themselves 'working girls') 

.

Back to the railway.

.

The photo was taken from a long footbridge located alongside Tyndall Street Level Crossing (behind the photographer).

.

The former Rhymney Railway embankment referred to in my previous post is seen on the left, and this hides the Cardiff (Newtown) Goods Depot seen in the previous post.

.

The South Wales main line went right to left under the Windsor Road bridge, the other side of which had been Newtown East and Long Dyke Junc. signal boxes.

.

Eventually all this was whittled away, leaving but one solitary spur leading from the SWML into the ASW later Celsa (UK) Cardiff Rod Mill ( correctly the Castle Works ? ), now even that has gone, the rod mill being accessed only from Tidal Sidings.

.

Brian R

.

Edited January 18, 2018 by br2975

[br2975]

The background of #222 was Tyndall Field Yard - it had closed 1/81 and, as surmised, all those wagons making the place look busy were actually condemned. I took a fair few photos of the wagons there at that time (a wide mix including the elusive Coil F conversions), all of them destined for Woodham Brothers down at Barry. ......................................................................

 

The only survivor today is the former weighbridge at the west end, which is still used as the gatehouse for the modern units down that side. If anyone finds themselves down that way it's worth a look at the end of Ellen Street.

 

 

The wife's family like many other Irish immigrants settled in Newtown, in fact her great, great uncle was the renowned boxer,  'Peerless' Jim Driscoll, who lived in Ellen Street, and after his career in the ring ended, ran the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel located on the corner of Tyndall St. and Ellen St.  

.

Tyndall St forms the backdrop to this, another Bob Masterman photo (Ellen St is just off to the right), which shows that the Coil F wagons hunted down by Hywel, were regulars in Tyndall Fields Yard, or in this case Spike Sidings during the mid-60s.

.

Brian R

[br2975]

Now a little further west towards the centre of Cardiff, and another yard for which I need the confirmation of name.

 

scan0165.jpg

Strangely another Gateshead ETH fitted 47/4 is in Cardiff on the same day as 47405 seen earlier.

47416 heads eastwards on the Up Main past Cardiff Long Dyke (if I have it correct) 17/9/81.

I am wondering which bridge I might have been standing on, Splott Road perhaps?

 

 

 

I'd wager Windsor Road bridge, as the Docks Link Road had yet to be built, and would have dominated ruined your photo

.

Brian R

[hmrspaul]

Long Dyke Yard circa 1972.

.

The overbridge in the background carries Windsor Road across the South Wales main line.

.

"The Magic Roundabout" referred to by The Johnster is nowadays located just off camera to the right, at the junction of Tyndall St. / East Tyndall St. / East Moors Rd. and Windsor Road......and I can confirm it is an habitual haunt of what are nowadays referred to as 'street workers' (even the oldest profession has had p.c. forced upon it....whereas the ladies call themselves 'working girls') 

.

Back to the railway.

.

The photo was taken from a long footbridge located alongside Tyndall Street Level Crossing (behind the photographer).

.

The former Rhymney Railway embankment referred to in my previous post is seen on the left, and this hides the Cardiff (Newtown) Goods Depot seen in the previous post.

.

The South Wales main line went right to left under the Windsor Road bridge, the other side of which had been Newtown East and Long Dyke Junc. signal boxes.

.

Eventually all this was whittled away, leaving but one solitary spur leading from the SWML into the ASW later Celsa (UK) Cardiff Rod Mill ( correctly the Castle Works ? ), now even that has gone, the rod mill being accessed only from Tidal Sidings.

.

Brian R

.

The bolster wagons are interesting - not conventional ones, but conversions of Lowfits to Twins and more usually associated with North Wales and Brymbo Steel works http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brtwinbolster

 

Paul

Edited January 19, 2018 by hmrspaul

[br2975]

The bolster wagons are interesting - not conventional ones, but conversions of Lowfits to Twins and more usually associated with North Wales and Brymbo Steel works http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brtwinbolster

 

Paul

The twin bolsters ran loaded with billets to the GKN Castle Works, but from where I do not know. I have a slide I took in April 1973 of a GKN Yorkshire 0-6-0DE propelling a load into the works.

 

Brian R

[The Johnster]

I have an idea they might have been involved in traffic from Panteg steelworks in Pontypool, Brian, but do not quote me on this as authoritative!

[Fat Controller]

The Twin-bolsters were used also for flows from Llanelly Steel/Duport to Great Bridge (and possibly other Midland terminals); they seemed to disappear very quickly around 1969/70, being replaced by Bolster E.

GKN Cardiff received 4" bar from the Scunthorpe area; it was carried on Bolster Ss in later years. Is it possible that Twin-Bolsters preceded them?

[hmrspaul]

 

GKN Cardiff received 4" bar from the Scunthorpe area; it was carried on Bolster Ss in later years. Is it possible that Twin-Bolsters preceded them?

 

Being slow here, what's a Bolster Ss?

 

Paul

[br2975]

Long Dyke Yard circa 1972.

.

The overbridge in the background carries Windsor Road across the South Wales main line.

.

"The Magic Roundabout" referred to by The Johnster is nowadays located just off camera to the right, at the junction of Tyndall St. / East Tyndall St. / East Moors Rd. and Windsor Road......and I can confirm it is an habitual haunt of what are nowadays referred to as 'street workers' (even the oldest profession has had p.c. forced upon it....whereas the ladies call themselves 'working girls') 

.

Back to the railway.

.

The photo was taken from a long footbridge located alongside Tyndall Street Level Crossing (behind the photographer).

.

The former Rhymney Railway embankment referred to in my previous post is seen on the left, and this hides the Cardiff (Newtown) Goods Depot seen in the previous post.

.

The South Wales main line went right to left under the Windsor Road bridge, the other side of which had been Newtown East and Long Dyke Junc. signal boxes.

.

Eventually all this was whittled away, leaving but one solitary spur leading from the SWML into the ASW later Celsa (UK) Cardiff Rod Mill ( correctly the Castle Works ? ), now even that has gone, the rod mill being accessed only from Tidal Sidings.

.

Brian R

.

 

I forgot to mention that away to the right of the photographer in this picture, GKN / BSC East Moors had established a rail served billet stacking site during the 1960s, near to what was known as Grimes Crossing.

.

Perhaps billet traffic ran to/from there ?

.

Brian R

[Fat Controller]

Being slow here, what's a Bolster Ss?

 

Paul

Sorry, Bolster Es

[Rivercider]

Hi Brian,

 

thanks for posting those photos of Tyndall Fields and Long Dyke.

Pictures like that sometimes make me wish I was born five years earlier. I did travel along that route a few times in the early 1970s,

but had no decent camera then, and in any case I would have been more interested in writing down the numbers of the South Wales

class 08s and class 37s that I had never seen before,

 

cheers 

[br2975]

thanks for posting those photos of Tyndall Fields and Long Dyke.

Pictures like that sometimes make me wish I was born five years earlier. I did travel along that route a few times in the early 1970s,

but had no decent camera then, and in any case I would have been more interested in writing down the numbers of the South Wales

class 08s and class 37s that I had never seen before,

 

 

No problem Sir !

.

Shame we didn't have longer to discuss such things last weekend.

.

The man responsible for 2 of those photos, Bob Masterman, had been at the show earlier, armed with his video camera.

.

The Long Dyke, Newtown, Tyndall Fields, Cardiff Goods complex had been an extremely busy place over the years.

.

I'll check to see if I have anything else.

.

Regards, and thanks for coming over on Saturday.

 

Brian.

[br2975]

After all this talk about the Cardiff, Long Dyke, Newtown, Tyndall Fields area, hopefully this aerial photograph may assist those who don't know the place, or may be too young.

.

The photo was taken, I suspect, in the late 1920s.

.

The South Wales Main Line runs from top right (Newport direction) to middle left (Cardiff General, now Central).

.

From the Newport direction, the three bridges are (i) the 'black bridge' fotbridge (ii) Windsor Road bridge, and (iii) the former Rhymney Railway line from its Cardiff Parade station (later absorbed into Queen St) to Cardiff Docks. The junction and 'box was known as Tyndall Street High Level Junction, the one line forking left runs to the Bute East and West Docks and the other line heads south bridging Tyndall Street, passing the one time 'Top of the run' Ground Frame and dropping to reach 'Roath Basin Junction' (as on your Hornby Toads) ,Cardiff East Dock shed and Stonefield Jct..

.

Approaching the scene from Newport, the junction on the downside is Long Dyke Junction, which veers away left from the SWML and continues towards Cardiff Docks negotiating Tyndall Street Level Crossing with its' long footbridge.

These lines joined the high level RR line to Cardiff Docks near Roath Basion Junction.

.

Note the flat crossing, just south of Tyndall St. level crossing ? (see next post).

.

At the bottom of the picture, we just catch a glimpse of the 'top end' of the Bute East Dock, with a bucket sand dredger moored amidst floating timbers..

.

Moving up (northwards) from the top of the dock, we come to.....

 

A  high level line that eventually drops to access the area between the Bute East and Bute West Docks.

.

The sidings lying between this high level line and Tyndall Street serve the former LNWR Cardiff Goods Depot, to operate which the Premier Line, and later the LMS kept a solitary 'Coal Tank' at the Rhymney Railway Cardiff Docks shed, until an agreement was reached with the GWR in the late 1920s.

.

The goods shed still stands, as a hotel.

.

On the north side of Tyndal Street we come to Tyndall Fields Yard, the sidings behind the church and other  buildings were once known as Spike Sidings (I know not why).

.

Then comes Tyndall Fields Yard, and then the SWML.

.

On the far side of the main line stands the GWR Cardiff (Newtown) Goods Depot, accessed off Davis St.

.

A new dual carriageway, runs diagonally across the scene now, its course from the top would be about where the one gable end stands in the middle of the goods depot building, then crosses the SWML and crosses the site of the Tyndall Street Level Crossing.

.

Kevin's (Rivercider) photo of the Cl.47 above would have been taken from Windsor Road bridge.

.

That's it, briefly....................I'm sure others can add some more meat to the bones

 

Brian R

Edited January 23, 2018 by br2975

[br2975]

The flat crossing referred to above, with Long Dyke pilot D3523 and its' attendant shunting truck.

.

A 1966 photo by Bob Masterman.

[Rivercider]

We now heading west to Cardiff Central, a station I spent many hours at over the years.

To link to a previous post here are two photos of what I think are trips from the freight depot on the up side at Canton. 

I think the Canton freight depot was formerly operated by Cory before becoming an Isis-LInk depot.

 

 

 

The background of #222 was Tyndall Field Yard - it had closed 1/81 and, as surmised, all those wagons making the place look busy were actually condemned. I took a fair few photos of the wagons there at that time (a wide mix including the elusive Coil F conversions), all of them destined for Woodham Brothers down at Barry. Just a month after your photo the wagons began to leave for Barry with the last of the sidings closing 1/82. By 2/83 I saw a Plasser & Theurer self-propelled crane working there lifting the rails - shame as it was really busy yard until the end of vacuum-fitted wagonload services when the surviving air-braked traffic left for the Isis-Link depot at Canton. The only survivor today is the former weighbridge at the west end, which is still used as the gatehouse for the modern units down that side. If anyone finds themselves down that way it's worth a look at the end of Ellen Street.

 

Hywel

 

08350 rumbles through Cardiff Central in May 1980 with vacuum braked stock, I have always assumed it came from the Cory at Canton but do not know for sure. Where would it be headed, Long Dyke? 22/5/80

 

 

By 1981 the trip looked somewhat different

08835 passes through Cardiff Central with an air braked trip from the freight depot at Canton 7/7/81

 

cheers

Edited January 25, 2018 by Rivercider